fra.3001
2010-11-10 13:11:31 UTC
FAMILY AND HOME
66% of British teenagers live with both parents,and if they live with one parent it is usually their mother. The majority of teenagers live in a family with two children. The father is still the main wage earner and the mother often works part-time.
Only 64% of British teenagers eat their main meal with their parents most days (compared with 93% in Italy). A quarter of girls often skip breakfast or lunch,probably for fear of getting fat. 20% of British teenagers drink alcohol and sometimes get drunk (in Italy this problem affects 5% of teenagers). The most common evening activity of all is watching television,followed by playing computer games and surfing the net (for boys), chatting with friends online (for boys and girls), reading a book and looking after pets (for girls). The Harry Potter series is very popular among teenagers,and Anna Frank's Diary remains a favourite. More girls than boys spend a few hour in the evening doing homework.
SOCIAL AND PERSONAL LIFE
Most teenagers are satisfied with their lives. 34% of them enjoy school and most 16-year-old students want to continue their studies. Howewer,teenagers often worry about schoolwork,family problems and bullying. Parents are still the most important source of support for young people,but many teenagers also look for help outside the family,talking to teacher about "school problems" and to friends about relationships and "being bullied". One of the most common worries remains "the way you look". Interestingly,only 12% of British girls are overweight,but more than 50% would like to lose weigh.
AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
Most teenagers say they enjoy physical activity,but more boys than girl do sport regularly. In their free time many teenagers hang out with their friends,but a lot of them do a part-time job.
In Britain young people can work a maximum of 12 hours per week during the school year. 40% of 14-15 year olds have a regular job and work for 4 or 5 hours a week. Paper and milk rounds are popular among boys,while babysitting is more common for girls. Most teenagers receive weekly pocket money, which is usually spent on sweets,soft drinks,computer games,comics,magazines,cosmetics,clothes and footwear. Boys tend to save more money than girls do. Every year one third of British teenagers do some kind of voluntary work:they spend their time trying to help people,animals or the environment. by doing paid and volountary work for young people get job experience and develop important skills,which will be useful fot their future life.
CURIOSITY FLASH
A lot of British teenagers start smoking when they are 11 and 43% of them live in a smoky house. Howewer, the majority of current smokers admit that they would like to stop.